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30 is the new 40: Meet our new Bay Star RV!

May 1, 2016 By Kerensa 14 Comments

After downsizing from a 40 ft to our new-to-us 30 ft RV, we’ve gotten a lot of questions. Does it feel too tight? Does the layout still work for you? Did you have to get rid of a lot? To answer these I’d say, “No. Yes. Not too much.” But instead of just talking about it, we thought we’d give you the tour.

Our new home is a 2012 Newmar Bay Star 30 ft gas motorcoach. The transition has been pretty seamless for us with minimal growing (?) pains. We did get rid of more stuff, but most of it needed to go anyway. There’s something very freeing about letting go of things you don’t use.

National Tradewinds 40 ft
Our previous RV
Newmar Bay Star 30ft
Our new RV

The Bays

We no longer have the super deep pass-through bays of a diesel, but we’ve managed to make it work by consolidating and using our Tetris skills. Brandon was able to get all his scuba gear in one bay!

Scuba Bay

Interior

We found a floor plan that was surprisingly similar to our previous RV, just a little shorter.

Previous RV
Bay Star Interior
New RV

We still have a couch, but had to say goodbye to our blue chair. Kona thinks the new sofa is pretty comfy.

Couch in Bay Star

 

Work Space

The desk/dinette area didn’t need a lot of customization to make it work for us. Brandon was able to modify our drawers into keyboard trays and drill a couple of holes for wires and viola!

Brandon working the desk

Kitchen

The kitchen had the biggest changes for us. We went from all-electric appliances (induction cooktop, convection oven, and residential fridge) to the typical gas-powered range and smallish fridge. While an adjustment, it allowed us to spend more time off the cord even before our solar. Our previous RV was an energy hog and we’d have to run the generator once or twice daily to keep the batteries topped off. We added organization boxes to the fridge and a stove wrap to keep everything clean and in its place. So far, so good.

Bedroom

We lost a slide in the bedroom, but we gained under bed storage, a tv, and a rear facing window. It’s hard to argue with that!

We’re really happy with our choice. Is it perfect? No, but is anything? At some point, we’d like to update the decor more to our style and there are some changes in the kitchen that could be done to gain counter space back. Those are our biggest complaints and they’re not that bad. Downsizing 10 feet has felt like opening 10 more doors to adventure for us and we can’t wait to drive through them all!

To see more about this RV and the additions we made, check out:
If the RV is Rockin’- Try Anti-Sway Bars!

 

« A Year with Gypsy
If the RV is Rockin’ – Try Anti-Sway Bars! »

Comments

  1. Cathy says

    May 2, 2016 at 4:01 am

    We’ve thought that a 30 ft motorhome should be “enough.” If you can live in it full-time, we should be able to manage half a year in it!

    Reply
    • Kerensa says

      May 2, 2016 at 10:54 am

      If you’re coming from a big house, it may take some adjustment. But for 6 months, it should be fine!

      Reply
  2. Sarah Ruh says

    May 2, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    Your new home looks great, and I love the video tour! You should totally have your own tv show. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kerensa says

      May 2, 2016 at 1:42 pm

      Thanks! You’ll get to see it up close and personal in a few months sitting in front of your house. And haha, riiiiggghhhttt.

      Reply
  3. Brittany Highland says

    May 2, 2016 at 2:00 pm

    You guys did such a great job with that video. Gonna miss that blue chair, though!

    Reply
    • Kerensa says

      May 2, 2016 at 2:04 pm

      Thanks! Me, too. 🙁

      Reply
  4. Eric Udell says

    May 2, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    Thanks for the tour! I’ve heard it said that you don’t get the right RV until the third one and for us that was true, but it seems like you guys did it two!

    Reply
    • Kerensa says

      May 2, 2016 at 2:38 pm

      Well, if you count our pop-up camper, we’re on par with you and the hearsay!

      Reply
  5. Gary King says

    June 24, 2016 at 4:57 am

    See my collections of RVs, Limos & Sprinters http://imgfave.com/vmtenterprises

    Reply
  6. Happy camper :) says

    November 21, 2016 at 3:27 am

    Great video, great tour and great post. Our RV is a travel camper we made by ourself on pickup. Now we are looking for a real Motorhome (Class-C). I hope we’ll be happy with this one

    Reply
    • Kerensa says

      November 21, 2016 at 1:10 pm

      Thanks! We hope you love you new RV!

      Reply
    • happy camper :) says

      November 22, 2016 at 12:10 am

      Thank you Kerensa. Continue to write interesting content. I will follow your great web site.

      Reply
  7. Andrea Elkins says

    March 16, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    Love the rear window! I agree with you: you really didn’t “lose” anything. And now you’re more mobile than ever!

    Reply

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Our Mission

Kerensa and Brandon- Drive Dive Devour

Drive- We switched our stationary life to travel the US in a motorhome and explore all its unique regions and cities. We’ll give you the low down on our favorite finds, so you can experience each locale with us or when you visit yourself!

Dive- You can scuba dive anywhere if you try hard enough!  The Keys were a fantastic diving spot, but the Texas missile silo was pretty cool, too.  Brandon’s out to prove the US is a dive destination.

Devour- We love to find local foods and experience regional dishes when we travel whether it’s at a restaurant, in a shop, or at the farmer’s market.  We’ll dive into regional cuisine tasting what is on offer and then recreating some of the dishes at home- often with a vegetarian twist.

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